The present invention is directed to an internal combustion engine and more specifically, to a two cycle, internal combustion engine wherein compression of incoming air and combustion of an air fuel mixture are independently performed by separate components of the engine.
The engine of the present invention also permits a change or adjustment of the compression ratio delivered by the engine and is therefore useful not only with gasoline but with other fuels as well and may be used in automotive, aircraft, marine and such stationary applications where conventional internal combustion engines are presently used.
In conventional internal combustion engines compression ratio is a function of piston displacement internally of the cylinder bore. The amount of air available for admixture to the fuel and the extent to which it may be compressed are therefore limited by the volumetric displacement of the piston on a compression stroke. Since the compression stroke follows a power stroke the force available for compressing incoming air is correspondingly diminished which is a negative effect inherent in conventional internal combustion engine designs particularly in small engines utilizing only one or two pistons. Although such negative effects may be overcome by increasing the volumetric displacement of the piston or enhancing the air fuel mixture, such accommodations adversely effect fuel efficiency.
The present invention avoids the foregoing problems and offers other advantages as well by separating and providing independent devices for performing the air compression and the air-fuel mixture combustion functions of the engine. In the present invention the combustion function is performed by means of a piston reciprocally slidably mounted in a cylinder bore while the compression function is performed by a member external of the cylinder bore which is pivotally mounted on trunnions internally of the engine. The piston is slidably received internally of a cylinder bore extending through the member mounted for pivoting or rocking movement internally of the engine. As the piston slides internally of the bore the piston not only drives a crankshaft but also causes the trunnion mounted member to pivot about the trunnions drawing air into and compressing air in compression chambers provided on opposite sides of the member. The compression chambers and air flow passages are provided independently of design considerations for the piston and cylinder bore and therefore may draw in and compress a greater quantity of air than would be possible with the volumetric piston displacement for a given engine and thus provide a larger compression ratio than possible with conventional engine designs.
In the preferred embodiment the present invention also includes a fluid passageway leading from each of the compression chambers to a precombustion chamber, a fluid conduit leading from one of the fluid passageways to an exhaust passage and a pressure regulator permitting flow through the fluid conduit to release excess pressure from the fluid passageways and thereby maintain a desired compression ratio. The pressure regulator may be preset for a particular type of fuel or fuel mixture and desired compression ratio, or it may be adjustable or replaced with another pressure regulator to accommodate either a different type of fuel, a different air fuel mixture or a different compression ratio depending upon the application for which the engine is intended to function.
The present invention thus provides an internal combustion engine wherein means other than the piston and cylinder bore are utilized to compress air required for a fuel mixture, thereby permitting the potential of a larger compression ratio than conventional engine designs which are limited by volumetric piston displacement considerations as well as the ability to adjust or change the compression ratio to accommodate different types of fuel, different air fuel mixtures, or to change the compression ratio for a particular application.